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Tuesday, November 17, 2015

Pale Moon has been updated to version 25.8.0. The update is described as a security, stability and usability update.

Three of the security updates are identified as DiD, "Defense-in-Depth". These fixes do not apply to actively exploitable vulnerabilities in Pale Moon. Rather, the purpose of the updates is to prevent future vulnerabilities caused by
the same code when surrounding code changes, exposing the problem.

Fixed potential information disclosure vulnerabilities
through the NTLM authentication mechanism. Insecure NTLM v1 is now
disabled by default, and the workstation name is set to WORKSTATION by
default (configurable with a preference for environments where
identification of workstations is done by actual reported machine
name). This avoids issues like CVE-2015-4515.

Fixed a potentially vulnerable crash from a spinning event loop during resize painting. DiD

Friday, November 13, 2015

The Microsoft Outlook team is notifying users via email about upcoming changes that will result in the inability to access email from @﻿outlook﻿.com, @﻿hotmail, @﻿live or @msn email accounts in Microsoft Outlook 2003, 2007 and 2010.

Although I may be completely wrong, the notification implies to me that the Outlook.com Preview is ending and the final changes outlined by the Outlook team in May (New ways to get more done in Outlook.com) will be rolling out .

Regardless, after the changes have been made and email is no longer appearing in the Outlook client, users of Microsoft Outlook 2003, 2007 or 2010 will need to follow the steps documented in the email from the Outlook team, copied below, in order to to resume receiving email from those accounts.

In the next few weeks we’ll be making some updates that will impact your @﻿outlook﻿.com, @﻿hotmail, @﻿live, or @msn email account. Those changes will prevent your email from getting delivered to the Outlook desktop application you use. When you notice that you stop receiving messages, simply follow these two steps:

When the update happens, you may not be able to refer back to this email in your Outlook desktop application. We recommend bookmarking or saving the two links (remove and re-add) in steps 1 and 2 above that apply to the version of Outlook you’re using. Remember, you can always access this message by logging into your account at ww﻿w.outlook.c﻿om at any time.

If you don’t know what version of Outlook you have, you can click here for instructions to find out.

Thanks for your understanding and continued use.

Sincerely,
The Outlook team"

Remember - "A day without laughter is a day wasted."
May the wind sing to you and the sun rise in your heart...

Tuesday, November 10, 2015

Whether you call it Veteran's Day, Armistice Day or Remembrance Day, November 11th is a time to put aside politics and pay tribute to all who died for their country. It is also a perfect time to thank the Veterans in whatever country you live in.

As in previous years, I am republishing my friend Canuk's last tribute and, once again, adding a special thank you to my friends "Phantom Phixer" and "Ghost".

The comment Canuk posted provides one example of why he was a special person:

"I too "will remember your friends who never had a full life", while thanking you and your comrades who have served with pride, honesty and honour.

Despite anyone's thoughts of the current conflict in Iraq - opposition or agreement, we must always remember that these brave young men and women are fighting for a cause they also may or may not agree with. The huge difference between them and us is that they are putting their lives on the line 24/7 while we sit in our homes in comfort, using the freedom of speech previous warriors won for us, and for that they deserve our love, respect, and support."

LEST WE FORGET

We Shall Keep the Faithby Moira Michael, November 1918

Oh! you who sleep in Flanders Fields, Sleep sweet - to rise anew! We caught the torch you threw And holding high, we keep the Faith With All who died. We cherish, too, the poppy red That grows on fields where valor led; It seems to signal to the skies That blood of heroes never dies, But lends a lustre to the red Of the flower that blooms above the dead In Flanders Fields. And now the Torch and Poppy Red We wear in honor of our dead. Fear not that ye have died for naught; We'll teach the lesson that ye wrought In Flanders Fields.Flags courtesy of3DFlags.com

These updates address critical vulnerabilities that are actively being exploited. It is strongly advised that the updates be applied as soon as possible. Details of the vulnerabilities are included in the below-referenced Security Bulletin.

Users of the Adobe Flash Player desktop runtime for Windows and Macintosh should update to Adobe Flash Player 19.0.0.245.

Users of the Adobe Flash Player Extended Support Release should update to Adobe Flash Player 18.0.0.261.

Users of Adobe Flash Player for Linux should update to Adobe Flash Player 11.2.202.548.

Adobe Flash Player installed with Google Chrome, as well as Internet Explorer on Windows 8.x and Windows 10, will automatically update to the current version.

Flash Player Update Instructions

It is recommended that you either use the auto-update mechanism within the product when prompted or the direct download links. The problem with the auto-update mechanism is that it can take a few days to finally provide the update and up to a week if using the "Notify me to install updates" setting.

Flash Player Auto-Update

The update settings for Flash Player versions 10.3 and above can found in the Advanced tab of the Flash Player Settings Manager. The locations are as follows:

Windows: click Start > Settings > Control Panel > Flash Player

Macintosh: System Preferences (under Other) click Flash Player

Linux Gnome: System > Preferences > Adobe Flash Player

Linux KDE: System Settings > Adobe Flash Player

Also note that the Flash Player Settings Manager is where to manage local settings.

Flash Player Direct Download Links

Warning: Although Adobe suggests downloading the update from the Adobe Flash Player Download Center, that link includes a pre-checked option to install unnecessary extras, such as McAfee Scan Plus or Google Drive. If you use the download center, uncheck any unnecessary extras.

If you use the Adobe Flash Player Download Center, be careful to uncheck any optional downloads that you do not want. Any pre-checked option is not needed for the Flash Player update.

Uncheck any toolbar offered with Adobe products if not wanted.

If you use alternate browsers, it is necessary to install the update for both Internet Explorer as well as the update for alternate browsers.

The separate 32-bit and 64-bit uninstallers have been replaced with a single uninstaller.

Verify Installation

To verify the Adobe Flash Player version number installed on your computer, go to the About Flash Player page, or right-click on content running in Flash Player and select "About Adobe Flash Player" from the menu.

Do this for each browser installed on your computer.

To verify the version of Adobe Flash Player for Android, go to Settings > Applications > Manage Applications > Adobe Flash Player x.x.

Details about the CVEs can be found in the below-referenced TechNet Security Bulletin. Watch for the November 2015 "monthly patch review" by Dustin Childs picking up where MSRC has left us hanging. The review can be found on the HP Security Research blog.

Known Issues

unresolved -- URLs containing a Unicode-format Internationalized Domain Name (IDN) are not redirected properly, leading to a Server Not Found error.

Update

To get the update now, select "Help" from the Firefox menu at the upper left of the browser window, then pick "About Firefox." Mac users need to select "About Firefox" from the Firefox menu. If you do not use the English language version, Fully Localized Versions are available for download.